Baccarat has a reputation for being a casino game reserved for high rollers or tuxedo-clad patrons like James Bond, but it’s actually one of the easiest games to play with one of the lowest house edges. This makes it far more likely you’ll walk away with a profit than other casino games such as roulette or the slots.
Baccarat is a simple card game played between the player and banker. The goal is to have the hand you are betting on, either the Player or Banker, come closest to nine when all of the pips (the dots on a card that make up clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) are added together.
Once all of the bets have been placed, the dealer will deal a single card to the Player box and then another to the Banker box. If the Player hand totals 8 or 9, this is known as a natural win and no further cards are drawn.
The winning Banker or Player bet is paid out according to the odds displayed. A win on a Super Six bet pays 12x the original bet amount, while a win on a Pair Bet pays 11x the bet amount.
The 5% winning banker commission is included in the payout odds on these bets, and should always be factored in when calculating your bankroll for a baccarat session. As a result, it’s a good idea to always bet on the Player and ignore the Tie bet if you want to get the best possible odds of beating the house.